Sunday, 11 July 2010

Chocolate and almond cake

This is a Delia recipe is actually called ‘moist chocolate and almond cake’. I can’t help that feel ‘moist’ is superfluous in a cake’s title because who wants to bake a dry cake?

Anyway, pedantry aside, I had a hankering for a chocolate cake this week; it had to be sinful enough so I my need for naughtiness was sated, but not so rich that I couldn’t eat lots of it!This recipe fitted the bill perfectly.

I recommend serving the cake with cream as the cream really brought out the richness of the chocolate and added some lightness. I used Chantilly cream which is a sweetened vanilla cream:

The almond adds flavour and richness to the texture.I don’t think you’d actually know the almond was there – it keeps in the background but does good work! You can see flecks of chocolate and almond in this photo; I’d cut the cake through to turn it into a sandwich cake:

First layer of chocolate ganache going on:

I was a little disappointed that the chocolate didn’t make the cake batter turn dark brown – maybe it would work better if it was melted rather than grated? To combat this I replace 15g of the flour with cocoa powder and that created the darker batter I was hoping for. Here’s the cake unadorned:

Cut and ready to take into work tomorrow – it’s one way to win over your work colleagues!

Beat together the butter and sugar until they are light and fluffy.Don’t skimp on this stage as it’s the key to success!

Add the egg yolks a tablespoon or so at a time and beat well to ensure the mixture doesn’t curdle.

Lightly fold in the ground almonds, the milk and the grated chocolate.This is always easiest to do with a metal spoon as you get a nice cutting edge to fold the mix.

In a separate bowl whisk the egg whites until they are at the soft peak stage.

Fold the whites into the chocolate mix – it’s best to start with just a spoon of egg white as this will slacken the mix and make folding in the rest easier.

Fold in the flour.

Spoon into the prepared tin and level the surface.

Place in the oven and immediately reduce the heat to 170˚c/fan oven 150˚c/325˚f/gas mark 3 – bake for approximately 1 hour 10 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the cake comes out clean (for this kind of cake the skewer can have a little on it just not raw batter).Mine took exactly this time.

Allow the cake to cool on a wire rack until the tin is cool enough to handle.Remove the tin and leave the cake to cool completely on the wire rack.

At the point you can store the cake in an airtight container until needed – it will keep 2-3 days without any problem as the almonds make it mega moist.

Now make the topping and filling: break the chocolate up and place in a bowl above a pan of simmering water.Or microwave it – I’ve started doing this and find it just as good.

When the chocolate has melted and is smooth and glossy leave it to cool for a couple of minutes.

Stir in the double cream.

Cut the cake into two and use half the chocolate/cream mix to sandwich it together.Spread the rest over the top.

I was a bit nervous about the chocolate/almond pairing since I hate the taste of almond but as you said you don't know it's there I now feel I can comment and say I'm sure this is completely delicious!! love the ganache on top...that's enough to satisfy anyone's chocolate fix! bravo as well for baking in this heat, I'm with Anne and gave full on baking a miss cause our house is like a sauna!

Read my novel! Yes! I wrote it!

Look at this great website

Follow my ambitious attempt to find a recipe for a cake, biscuit, pie or tart for every single one of the 39 traditional English counties!

The Caked Crusader and Boy Wonder

Cartoon by Cakeyboi

About Me

So, the answer to the question you’re all asking: who am I? Well, a superhero never reveals their identity. I think it’s stated somewhere in the contract when you sign up for superhero-dom. Let’s just call me THE CAKED CRUSADER. By day (and night if I’m being honest) a mild-mannered City professional, but at weekends I become THE CAKED CRUSADER. Tirelessly fighting anti-cake propaganda and cake-related injustices – for SOMEONE, SOMEWHERE, ALWAYS NEEDS CAKE (we’ll just skip over the fact that it’s usually me).

Batman’s got the batmobile, batcave etc. Superman does just great what with being able to fly and being really strong. Spiderman’s got that web thing going on. But I have better than them. For I have a credit card and could get one of these:

The purpose of my blog is simple – to spread the word that CAKE IS GOOD.Yes, it is calorific; that is why it tastes so nice.Yes, too much of it is bad for you; that’s what ‘too much’ means.Yes, we’re all told to eat healthily and we know that we should. But ask yourself this – and look very deeply into your soul before answering – when has a cup of tea and a carrot ever cheered you up? However, put that carrot into a cake and happiness will ensue. Quod erat demonstrandum – CAKE IS GOOD.

This site will catalogue cakes I have unleashed unto the world and my thoughts thereon.

By the way, I will never recommend how many portions you should get out of a cake because we’re all different. Plus, it will be very embarrassing when I say it serves 4 and you get 20 portions out of it.

WARNING: Too much time spent on this blog may cause hunger.

Privacy notice

The Caked Crusader blog does not share personal information with third-parties, nor does it store or use information collected about your visit to the site other than to analyse content performance. I am not responsible for the republishing of the blog’s content on other websites or media without my permission. This privacy policy is subject to change without notice.

Cake Achievement in Film and Television Arts (CAFTA)

Have you seen a cake in a film or tv show that deserves recognition? Has a cupcake upstaged a beefcake?

If so, please let me know and that cake could win a coveted CAFTA award. Email me your suggestions, with a photo of the cake if possible.

About Me

I am a 40-something Chartered Accountant working in the square mile.
My main hobbies at the moment are baking, and setting the world record for the number of cake tins owned by one person.
I spend far too much time watching Spongebob Squarepants and would love to try a Krabby Patty...I know, I know - it's not real.